NASCAR Productions was recognized this week with a Sports Emmy Award for its work on MotorTrend’s docuseries, “NASCAR 2020: Under Pressure.”
The show was honored in the category of Outstanding Post-Produced Audio/Sound, with Wayne Morgan and Ben Potts as the Senior Audio Engineers. Audio engineers Paul Cavanaugh, Dave Colozzi, Jamie Gay, Jon Housholder, Max Johnson, Adam King, Adam Lawrence, Jason Ouzts, Joe Radler and Jeff Schafer were also recognized.
“NASCAR 2020: Under Pressure” — a collaboration between the MotorTrend Group and NASCAR Productions — offered viewers exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the events that defined the season. The seven-episode series aired on the MotorTrend App.
FS1 was also awarded a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Studio or Production Design/Art Direction for “NASCAR Race Hub.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action and makes its first Texas stop in Saturday’s SpeedyCash.com 220 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where Johnny Sauter would love to reclaim some of the winning magic he used to sweep the 2012 series stops and to earn trophies in consecutive years from 2016-18.
Historically speaking, the Texas Motor Speedway high banks have been a refined art for competitors. Three drivers — Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter and Todd Bodine — have earned at least five wins at the track. Bodine leads everyone with six Texas trophies. Brendan Gaughan boasts a record four consecutive wins – sweeping the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Sauter, the driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Toyota, could certainly use a good run Saturday. He sits 11th in the standings entering Texas. Sauter has 11 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 25 Texas Truck Series starts, however, his last top 10 came in 2019 (third). It’s been an all-or-nothing type year for Sauter who has four top-10 finishes but also three DNFs. His last top-10 came at Darlington (sixth) three races ago.
Certainly, those competitors leading the driver standings, three-race winner John Hunter Nemechek and two-race winner Ben Rhodes, would love to up their game on the Fort Worth track. Nemechek, who leads the points standings, has eight top-10 finishes in the seasons’ 10 races but has only a single top-10 Truck Series finish in five Texas starts. The last time the driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota raced a truck at the track was 2017.
Rhodes, driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota, has four career top-10 finishes in 10 Texas starts – a best of runner-up in 2018. He currently boasts a series-best nine top-10 finishes this season, including the last six races.
Reigning series champion Sheldon Creed joins Sauter and Matt Crafton as the only series regulars to have tipped his hat in Texas Victory Lane – winning from pole position last October after leading a dominating 131 of the 152 laps. The driver of the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet would absolutely like to reclaim some of that magic. He won at Darlington but has a pair of finishes 30th or worse in the last four races.
Hattori Racing Enterprises driver Austin Hill – last year’s regular-season champion – is another that could use an invigorating victory this weekend. After a shaky season start, he’s finished top-10 in seven of the last eight races. His best work in three top-10 finishes in nine Texas starts is runner-up last October.
This weekend’s race will feature a pair of NASCAR Cup Series regulars amongst the championship contenders. Chase Elliott (No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet) and Ross Chastain (No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet) are entered. Elliott won an Xfinity Series race at the track in 2014.
Texas Motor Speedway has proven must-see TV for NASCAR Xfinity Series fans. The 1.5-mile high banks just hosted a pair of dramatic races in 2020 and now is poised to kick off its 2021 slate this weekend with Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniforms 250 Powered by Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen (4 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
There have been seven different winners in the last seven races of the season, and Texas is a venue many teams have had circled on their list of potential winning venues.
During last year’s playoff race at Texas, a pair of 20-year-olds turned in one of the most exciting finishes of the season with Harrison Burton passing Noah Gragson in the final corner of the final lap to take the victory.
The first race at Texas had drama of its own with race-winner Kyle Busch disqualified and eventual series champion Austin Cindric awarded the victory. Busch’s car failed post-race inspection – not meeting the height requirements.
Cindric, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, returns to town this weekend looking for a series-best fourth win in 2021 but coming off his second-worst finish of the year, 14th-place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – even though he led 30 laps. He has had a tip-of-the-hat relationship with the Fort Worth, Texas, high banks – scoring five top-10 finishes in six career starts there. His worst result is 11th (2019).
He currently holds a commanding 96-point advantage over veteran A.J. Allmendinger in his quest for a second consecutive regular-season championship. Allmendinger scored his second trophy of the season last week at Mid-Ohio and has eight top-five finishes in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Interestingly, this will be the 39-year-old Allmendinger’s first career Xfinity Series start at Texas. The former Cup regular had two top-10 finishes in 20 NASCAR Cup Series races there.
Burton, 20, is certainly hopeful he can reclaim some of that Texas magic from last year. The popular driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has yet to win this season despite a strong statistical output buoyed by nine top-10 finishes. His best work of 2021 has been third place – three times (at Daytona International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway).
He has finished top-10 in all three of the season’s races on 1.5-mile tracks such as Texas. He has finished seventh or better in all three of his career starts at Texas. In fact, he and Cindric are the only full-time drivers with previous victories at the track.
Easily the most motivated driver in the series this week has to be Burton’s runner-up last year, Gragson. The 22-year-old Las Vegas native has had a frustrating year by anyone’s standards – with a series-high six DNFs. Last weekend, he didn’t even complete a single lap in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, retiring with body damage after an opening-lap miscue at Mid-Ohio.
Gragson is currently ranked 11th in the championship standings – only 15 points ahead of 13th-place Brandon Brown in the quest to make the 12-driver playoff field.
The Texas track may be just the panacea. Gragson’s best finishes of the season have been on 1.5-mile tracks. Two of his top-five efforts came at Atlanta (fourth) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (fifth).
“Last time we were at Texas we almost put our Bass Pro Shops-True Timber-Black Riffle Coffee Camaro in Victory Lane, so I know (crew chief) Dave Elenz and this entire No. 9 team will unload a fast Chevrolet,” Gragson said. “We will hopefully be one spot better than the last time here and have our entire team celebrating in Victory Lane.”
Sam Hornish Jr. may not be racing anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s retired.
After more than 30 years of being behind the wheel, starting when he first strapped into a go-kart at the age of 11 (he’d go on to win the World Karting Association’s U.S. Grand National championship just four years later), Hornish is definitely enjoying life away from racing back in his hometown of Defiance, Ohio.
But just because he isn’t racing anymore, don’t think he’s sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch, watching grass grow or paint dry.
“I’m as busy now, if not busier, than I was when I was driving,” Hornish told NASCAR.com.
Hornish, who turns 42 on July 2, spends his days primarily with his family, his church and as a self-professed do-it-yourself-er, taking on projects that include building and tinkering.
But one thing that is never far away is his phone. Even though it has been more than four years since his last race, if he got “the right call,” Hornish would jump back in a race car once again if the situation was right.
Jonathan Moore | Getty Images
“To spend 30 years or more doing something and then basically hanging up your helmet, it’s kind of a weird thing,” Hornish said. “It’s something that you love to do, it’s that competitive aspect. I can see why a lot of guys that get to the end of the road in their racing career or football career or baseball career, have problems with drugs and alcohol because you’re all of a sudden not really able to do something that you’ve put so much of your life into and who am I apart from that?
“What am I going to do with the rest of my life, it’s that type of thing. I was prepared for not being a race car driver and not feel having that thrill of the chase, you might want to call it, but not everybody is as lucky as I am, I guess.”
When he knew his racing career was slowing down, Hornish began making plans for the next chapters of his life.
He and his wife, Crystal, packed up their three kids – daughters Addison and Eliza, and son Sam III – and moved back to the Defiance area after several years in Charlotte. While racing always has been important to him, faith and family are even more so. Being closer to family and watching their kids grow up in a tight-knit, small-town environment was a lure that Hornish couldn’t ignore.
“I could still do it from back home,” Hornish said of racing.
And while he’s had opportunities to get back behind the wheel, the right situation hasn’t presented itself.
“The tough part is if somebody calls with a good opportunity, I don’t know that I can say no,” Hornish said. “I never felt like I was moving back here to retire and never felt like I was hanging it up.”
Hornish’s last two NASCAR races came in 2017 during the Xfinity Series playoffs. He showed he still had a lot of gas left in his personal tank, finishing second at both Charlotte Motor Speedway and the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
While he is still physically fit and ready to hop into a race car, Hornish hasn’t put his life away from racing on hold. He’s just shifted priorities – and sometimes with a little help from family and friends.
“To be real honest with you, when you’re 41 years old and people start thinking you’re retired, they start dreaming up a lot of things for you to do,” Hornish said with a laugh. “They think you have all this free time and you need something to do to occupy yourself.
“When I had my 40th (birthday) check-up, my doctor is asking me, ‘Well, what are you doing with all this extra time you have? Do you have things to be able to keep your mind going?’ And I’m going, ‘I’m not 70, you know.’ I have three kids and a wife I’m trying to entertain.”
So, what is Hornish doing to keep himself busy these days? The simple answer is whatever he wants to, but it’s more involved than that. He still works for his family’s trucking company, dabbles in real estate investing, goes on a number of mini-trips with his wife and kids, teaches Bible study and has served as a substitute school teacher.
He also spearheaded the funding and construction of a senior center as well as a heart treatment center in Defiance, has raised over $500,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities, and built a dance studio at his kid’s school, as well as props for various plays at the school.
“I’ve always enjoyed building things with my hands,” Hornish said. “Being able to do that has been a lot of fun. And to be able to build something that’s used in some kind of performance, in a lot of ways it allows me to do something I’m passionate about.”
And when he feels the need for speed, Hornish will go out to his garage and work on or drive some of the cars in his personal collection, including a 1930 Model A Ford, 1951 Mercury, 1955 Chevrolet Del Ray, 1965 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, 1967 Chevrolet pickup truck and the Corvette Z06 Indianapolis 500 pace car he received for winning the 2006 Indy 500.
***
Before he came to NASCAR, Hornish was one of the most successful drivers on the IndyCar circuit. In eight seasons, from 2000 through 2007, he won 19 races, captured three IndyCar championships (2001, 2002 and 2006), with the highlight of his career being his win in the 2006 Indianapolis 500.
“I had people say why did I leave IndyCar?” Hornish said. “They said stuff like I could have been the first five-time winner (of the 500).”
But Hornish is also a realist. As IndyCar speeds continued to climb and a number of drivers suffered career-threatening injuries, he decided it would be best for himself and his family if he moved on from open-wheel racing and into NASCAR.
“Maybe my feet would be crushed up, you’re not able to walk around and do the things you want to do,” Hornish said. “It’s a double-edged sword. There’s a lot of me that’s super-competitive and I really like to be out there. And then there’s a part of me that’s a little more sensible that says, ‘You’re never going to be happy, no matter if you have five Indy 500 wins and six championships and a NASCAR Cup championship.’
“You want to be someone who’s done something that no one else has ever done. That’s how competitive people are. There’s a certain point in me that is thankful for what I’ve already achieved. And while there could be more, you can’t let that be your driving force because more and more is always in somebody’s mind. How much is enough? I’ll let you know when I get enough – and you never get there.”
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
Having accomplished so much in such a short period of time in the IndyCar Series – just eight seasons – Hornish was ready for a new challenge, and he found it in NASCAR.
He would go on to make 167 starts in Cup, but never claimed a victory. On the other hand, Hornish found a great deal of success in the Xfinity Series, earning five wins, 38 top-five and 64 top-10 finishes in 120 starts, including finishing a career-best second in the championship chase in 2013, losing the title by a mere three points to Austin Dillon.
“To be able to get Roger (Penske) the owner’s championship and to be the driver that brought the car to the championship (in 2013), that was something special for me. Those were neat things. And I kept thinking there would be more opportunities the next year and there just was nothing there (he would move to Joe Gibbs Racing and ran just eight races there in 2014).”
During his NASCAR tenure — starting with two Xfinity races in 2006, his Cup career that stretched from 2007 through 2015, and ending with six Xfinity races in 2017 — Hornish was a man in demand.
He has the distinction of having raced for some of the biggest owners in the sport including NASCAR Hall of Famers Roger Penske, Richard Childress, Joe Gibbs and Richard Petty.
“It was very humbling to drive for all of them,” Hornish said. “I didn’t know I was ever going to get an opportunity that I ever was going to drive a race car. … And here I got to race for Penske, Childress, Gibbs and Petty in my career. It was truly an honor.
“Man, for a kid from Defiance, Ohio that hoped that one day he’d go and qualify for the Indy 500, to know I raced it multiple times, won it, won multiple championships, to stand on Cup and Xfinity championship stages at Miami, to go to the White House to be honored. I can sit there and pick apart things that didn’t go right, but I got to do about 8,000 other things that I never thought I’d get to do.”
Even though he’s only made one start in the Camping World Truck Series (in 2008), Hornish would definitely entertain the possibility of driving in that series if an offer presented itself.
Driving a truck is particularly appealing to Hornish because it’s a shorter season, which would allow him not to have to be away from home as much as he would if he drove full-time or even a significant part-time schedule in Cup or Xfinity.
“I love racing,” Hornish said. “I’m passionate about it when I watch it, I’m passionate about it when I’m talking about it. But, the passion to go out and do it every day, it’s just not there. I’d give up too much of something that I can never get back, and that’s time with your kids while they’re growing up and being able to influence them, to mold them and to be a part of their lives when they’re still learning to be in their life.”
***
For a guy that’s soon to turn 42, some might consider Hornish too old to race again. But he quickly points to his former Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, who won a record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 two weeks ago at the age of 46.
While he was unable to be at this year’s 500 in-person, Hornish was particularly proud of his former teammate not only for such a lofty accomplishment, but it also showed that drivers can still be competitive at 40 years of age and older.
“He’s 46 – but he doesn’t act like it,” Hornish said with a laugh. “Year after year, he continues to push on, to have that competitive fire. I never would have thought of him being 46. He’s still very youthful.”
Speaking of being youthful, Hornish’s youngest child and namesake, 7-year-old Sam III, may follow in his father’s racing footsteps.
“On Easter Sunday, we dug an old go-kart out of the garage and he ran quite a bit, he spent a few hours out on the track turning laps,” Hornish said. “The track that I had set up, he was running like 12-second laps. But I could tell he wasn’t full throttle all the way down the straightaway but was really being smooth, not getting in the grass and using the whole track.
“I asked him, ‘Is that as fast as you could go?’ He said, ‘Yeah, that’s about as fast as I could go.’ And then he takes off and I can tell this is going to be way quicker and he runs like a second faster, probably within 2/10ths (of a second) that I thought he could go.”
Then, with a laugh, Hornish added, “I said to him, ‘I thought you said you couldn’t run any faster?’ He said back to me, ‘I was just keeping a little left in my back pocket.’ I had a dream one night recently where I drove the truck and trailer and he drove the race car.”
Even though he’s north of 40 and one of Defiance’s biggest celebrities, the still youngish-looking Hornish recently had a rather humorous engagement with a fan in his hometown.
“I’m loading up some appliances on my trailer and a guy is like, ‘So, hey, I just wanted to tell you, you’re Sam Hornish, right? You’re related to the race car driver, right?’ And I said yeah. Then he said, ‘that’s so cool. I just loved watching your dad race when I was a kid.’
“People tell me that’s just how young I look. Even though they were 30 and you’re 22 and now that they’re 50 and you’re 42, they think you’re 80 or should be older than them. I was trying to figure out how to tell him. How’s a 50-year-old guy trying to tell me how he watched my dad when he was a kid?
“Then he shows me an autographed hero card from when I was driving for Panther (Panther Racing in IndyCar in 2000) and he said, ‘Your dad signed this for me.’ I’m looking at it for where my dad’s signature is, and the only one I see is my signature.”
***
Yes, it’s been a sometimes crazy ride for Hornish, but he remains the family-oriented, God-fearing guy he’s always been. And while some may think he’s permanently retired, don’t be surprised if someday soon he’s back in a race car. It’s his passion, it’s in his DNA.
“I grew up a real fan of the Indy 500 and loved all forms of motorsports,” Hornish said. “When I was a kid, I watched everything from Formula One to swamp buggy racing. That’s who I am and that’s what I do.
“There was a God-given drive to want to be in a race car and to be competitive and go fast. Even if I was in a go-kart that was only going 35 (mph), I was always wondering how could I be a little bit faster than the next guy.”
***
The Sam Hornish Jr. file:
•Age: 41 (turns 42 on July 2)
•Hometown: Defiance, Ohio
•NASCAR Cup Series career: 167 races, 0 wins, 3 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. Best career single-race finish: fourth at Pocono in 2009.
•NASCAR Xfinity Series career: 120 races, 5 wins, 38 top-five and 64 top-10 finishes. Also earned nine poles.
•Best Xfinity overall season finish: 2nd in 2013.
•Notable: Won the 2006 Indianapolis 500, three IndyCar championships in six seasons (2001, 2002 and 2006).
See where your favorite driver will pit for the NASCAR Cup Series’ annual All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
When Phil Fowler first started racing at Eastbound International Speedway, he would often do giveaways after races with young fans, holding competitions with kids in the stands to win his steering wheel, helmet, or other pieces of his car.
One year after a crash, he even gave away the hood of his late model.
“I don’t know how impressed the dad was with that that he had to take a hood panel home,” Fowler said. “But the kid loved it and seeing the smile on the kid’s face, that’s what really means more for our race team.”
Fowler and his race team focus everything on kids, and for at least the next three years his car will reflect that focus. Fowler’s late model will carry a paint scheme with the signature red and yellow and the emblem for Ronald McDonald House on the hood. Ronald McDonald House Charities is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is “to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children,” the website states.
Fowler will race the car in the Advance Auto Parts Division One at Eastbound International Speedway – a NASCAR-sanctioned 0.375-mile semi-banked asphalt oval track in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He has an eighth and a sixth-place finish so far this season.
After the paint scheme was unveiled, Fowler took the car to the Ronald McDonald House St. John’s location, where the president arranged to allow some of the children staying there to see the car, get in, and ask Fowler questions about racing.
“It was almost like they felt like they were actually driving the car,” Fowler said. “A couple of the kids there were really, really, really enticed by it. It just broke up their day for them and let them forget things for a while so they could have a bit of fun.
“It put smiles on their faces. The kids actually really loved it and the parents seemed like they enjoyed it just as much as the children. They asked us as many questions as the kids did.”
Fowler will again display his car and his team’s tractor-trailer at the St. John’s Ronald McDonald House and have a meet and greet this weekend to allow race fans or non-race fans to see the car and possibly make a donation or leave a gift for the children.
“We try to do everything we can for local children and we focus on the children mostly,” he said. “We try to make everything better for those because the most important thing is supporting those kids, of course.”
Fowler has been racing at Eastbound for five years, his first time racing on an oval track. An interest in cars when he was growing up drew him to drag racing because there weren’t any oval tracks near his home.
He got out of the sport for a time to go to college and play competitive hockey. After Eastbound was built, the owners convinced Fowler to try out a legends car that he raced for two years.
Fowler then moved up to late models, which he’s been racing ever since.
“There’s nothing like an oval track. It’s a pretty different sport,” Fowler said. “The camaraderie with oval tracks is a lot different than drag racing. It’s a lot more intense, a lot more fun.
“It’s really intense, really competitive. A lot of competition so you’re either on your A-game or you’re in the back of the pack with this racing.”
The first couple of years were a big learning curve for Fowler and his team, trying to get the track and set-up figured out. He had to learn how to stay out of trouble and not be too aggressive, while still maintaining speed.
While Fowler thinks his car is getting faster, he knows his competition is getting faster too. It’s that competitive nature to keep up with them that keeps him on the track.
“As of right now we are a really competitive car. We have great sponsors that back us so we can do what we’re doing,” Fowler said. “We can be a top-3 car in every race.
“Every year the car is getting faster and faster. The competition part keeps bringing us back because the better we get the better other cars are getting. It seems like every season others are getting faster and faster and the races are getting bigger.”
With two top-10 finishes this season, Fowler has one goal in mind for 2021 – win a championship. He and his team won a track championship at Thunder Valley Speedway in Canada last season, but he’s still looking for an Eastbound title.
Mike James | Eastbound International Speedway
“We do have a car that’s really good and can win a few races, so we’re hoping to get a few wins under our belt so we can run up at the top in points again and hopefully we can get a championship this year…and get our names on a NASCAR plaque.”
With two wins before All-Star weekend, Alex Bowman has secured a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and based on his recent momentum (four straight top-10 finishes) and the overall dominance of Hendrick Motorsports, the No. 48 may just be among the four drivers competing for the championship in Phoenix. If Bowman is there at the end, one professional gambler could be looking at another fat payday.
Image courtesy of Zack White
Zack White, a respected bettor who counts NASCAR among his specialties, has multiple four-figure wagers (see photo to the right) on Bowman to win the 2021 title at odds ranging from 28/1 (+2800) to 35/1 (+3500). The bets were placed between January and April at various sportsbooks around the country and would result in a $198,000 win should Bowman lift the Cup. White has a few smaller bets sprinkled on Bowman as well, he said in a text message to NASCAR.com.
“How ANY Hendrick team was 35/1 this year is still crazy to me,” White texted.
It wouldn’t be the first time White has profited handsomely from long-shot futures bets. He and betting partner Mark DeRosa last winter made $20,000 in bets on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, before the team signed Tom Brady, to win the Super Bowl at around 65/1 odds and to win the NFC at around 35/1, per an ESPN report.
Matthew Rasp, a Sports Trader at BetMGM, said in an email to NASCAR.com that partly due to White’s bet, Bowman “slightly edges out” Kyle Larson as the book’s largest NASCAR futures liability when combining digital with retail (Borgata in Atlantic City, where White has a $2,000 wager on Bowman at 35/1, is an MGM property).
Ed Salmons, vice president of risk management at SuperBook USA, where White has a $1,000 ticket on Bowman at 30/1, said in a text that a Bowman championship would result in a loss for his shop’s futures book. Bowman ranks fifth at the SuperBook in terms of drivers with the most amount of money bet on them to win the title, behind Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.
Per current prices at the SuperBook, Bowman’s futures odds have been trimmed to 16/1. At BetMGM, the No. 48 is 14/1 ahead of this weekend’s All-Star race.
While most of the attention around the Hendrick garage is on Larson and Elliott, the team’s other two drivers are factors in the championship mix, too. William Byron, sitting in fourth place in the standings, is now 12/1 on BetMGM’s futures board and has been shortened from 30/1 to 14/1 at the SuperBook.
White likes his position on Bowman, but given the chance to run it back, he’d have an investment in the No. 24 as well.
“I almost pulled the trigger on Byron too, wish I had,” he texted. “Could seriously be 4 Hendrick cars racing for the Championship in Phoenix.”
Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race is Sunday, and the Fan Vote is still going strong for the big event at Texas Motor Speedway. Voting will be open until Friday at noon ET, so here’s a roundup of the top five drivers.
The top vote-getters, in alphabetical order: Chase Briscoe, Matt DiBenedetto, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Bubba Wallace.
Fans can vote here for one eligible driver once a day per unique email address. Votes shared on Facebook and Twitter will count as bonus entries, for a total of four votes per day.
To compete in the All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET, Sun., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), drivers must be a NASCAR Cup Series winner in 2020-21 or be a full-time driver who was a previous All-Star or past Cup Series champion. The stage winners and overall race winner in the All-Star Open (6 p.m. ET, Sun., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) and the Fan Vote winner will also be eligible for the race.
The 17 drivers who are already entered into the All-Star Race include: Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman.
Kyle Petty has logged plenty of miles over the years, whether on the track during his NASCAR driving career or in the many cross-country motorcycle trips he’s made with others in his long-running charity ride. This summer, Petty will add some more intimate miles to his personal odometer in a new prime-time show.
“Dinner Drive with Kyle Petty” is set for a July 8 premiere (8 p.m. ET) on the Nashville-based Circle Network. The show places Petty with several personalities — both inside and outside the world of motorsports — in their home environment. Each guest will feature a vehicle that holds special meaning for them, and Petty will be along for the ride to grab food at a favorite local eatery, where one-on-one conversation will follow.
“Dinner Drive will feature an inside look at the lives and cars of some of the biggest names in sports, music, and entertainment, including sentimental stories of their upbringing, professional careers, and personal lives,” Kyle Petty said in a news release. “I’m excited for viewers to pull up a chair and join us at the table as we have candid conversations about life with each guest.”
The guest list for the weekly series is star-studded. NASCAR.com shared an exclusive first look at clips from the first episode, where Petty meets up with Dale Earnhardt Jr., gets acquainted with his vintage Chevy S10 pickup truck, and shares conversation at a local pizza joint in his Mooresville, N.C., stomping grounds.
Oswego Speedway welcomes the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back to Upstate New York for the first time since 2019 this Saturday (June 12).
This week’s race marks the fifth race of 2021 and first of two stops at the ⅝-mile track this year, but Saturday night’s Steel Palace 150 could offer a significant shakeup in the points standings. Six-time tour champion and Riverhead Raceway winner Doug Coby will not compete this weekend despite sitting third in points, only five points behind current points leader Patrick Emerling.
The heat for the top spot of the tour is quickly heating up as Emerling leads Justin Bonsignore, last week’s winner at Jennerstown Speedway, by a single point. Bonsignore is also the most recent Oswego winner in a modified, earning the checkered flag in the 2019 Toyota Mod Classic.
Action in Oswego is sure to reach a fever pitch, though, with some familiar names returning to the circuit this weekend.
With his JTG-Daugherty Racing No. 37 team opting out of the NASCAR All-Star Race weekend, Ryan Preece will hop behind the wheel of the No. 6 Chevrolet owned by Ed Partridge in an attempt to score his second Oswego victory, having won there previously in 2017.
Matt Hirschman will also make his season debut this weekend in the No. 60 car for Roy Hall. Hirschman has three career tour wins, the last of which came at Oswego in 2018.
But all eyes will be on Justin Bonsignore, who led 81 of 150 laps en route to victory lane the last time the modifieds hit Oswego Speedway. In four starts at the storied facility, Bonsignore’s record is astounding with finishes of third, sixth, second and first.
His next-best competition would have been Doug Coby, who also has four starts and finishes of first, fourth, third and sixth. Instead, Chase Dowling will hop into the No. 10 Ford to make his season debut in his place. Dowling has three Oswego starts under his belt, netting finishes of eighth, 12th and ninth since 2016.
Points leader Patrick Emerling, who won at Stafford Motor Speedway to close the month of April, enters with a history of scattered performances at Oswego. Half of his four starts have resulted in top-10 finishes of fifth and seventh, but the other two have ended in mediocre runs with finishes of 18th and 14th. His point lead may be in peril knowing Bonsignore’s more impressive resume at Oswego.
Eric Goodale took home the checkered flag at the season-opening race at Martinsville Speedway but comes into the event fourth in points. Oswego has treated the Riverhead, New York native well with two fifth-place finishes and a seventh-place effort in his last three starts.
CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Steel Palace 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 Steel Palace 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.
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.
