Posted on by Holly Cain

A typically action-packed season-opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the Daytona International Speedway oval last week takes a new turn – 14 turns actually – when the series races on the 3.61-mile infield road course in Friday night’s BrakeBest Brake Pads 159 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Reigning champion Sheldon Creed won the Daytona Road Course event last year, taking a comfortable .743-second win over veteran Brett Moffitt – the two drivers leading 32 of the 46 laps with Creed leading the last 12. Raphael Lessard, Matt Crafton and Austin Hill rounded out the top five in order.

DAYTONA ROAD COURSE: Weekend schedule | Starting lineup | Paint schemes

It was the only road-course Truck race of the 2020 COVID-19 affected schedule. Typically, the series races at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. Among those full-time drivers entered this weekend, only John Hunter Nemechek (2016) and Moffitt (2019) have recent road-course wins there.

Ben Rhodes, a championship contender in 2020, earned the season-opening win at Daytona last weekend, edging Jordan Anderson by .036 seconds. Chandler Smith led the most laps. Rhodes holds a slim four-point edge on the defending champ Creed and Nemechek coming into this weekend’s race.

Hailie Deegan, driver of the No. 1 Team DGR, will be making only her second start in the series as a full-time championship contender. She ran briefly among the top five last weekend on the Daytona oval but was caught in a crash and finished 24th.

Deegan, who was encouraged with her work Sunday, told the media this week she has really benefitted from having former NASCAR Cup Series driver David Ragan as a “tutor” of sorts for the 2021 season.

“He has been crucial for my development,” Deegan said. “Just the level of experience he has and all the knowledge he has that he has been able to feed to me has been so great.

“Ford saw how much he was helping me and the information he was giving me. I think going into the Truck Series this year, Ford stuck him with me with the mindset of working together and doing the best we can together.”

Deegan said the former Cup winner has been able to help the learning curve with all the new tracks she’s encountering. She does have some experience on the Daytona Road Course, finishing sixth in an ARCA Menard Series race there last year.

“His experience and knowledge,” Deegan said. “Everything he knows about every single track. I think going to all these tracks, I am very new to them. A lot of them I haven’t raced at before. Him having experience there and a lot of notes that he can give me is crucial.”

Rhodes will start from the pole this weekend, and Ryan Truex, who finished fourth in last week’s season-opener, will start on the outside front row for Friday’s race.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR has tweaked the Daytona International Speedway Road Course’s bus stop chicane before this weekend’s national series tripleheader, following driver feedback from the season-opening Busch Clash.

The sanctioning body added rumble strips to the Turn 9 and Turn 10 chicane on the backstretch to prevent cars from getting into the grass and spraying dirt onto the racing surface and other cars.

RELATED: Daytona Road Course schedule | Turn-by-turn look at Daytona Road Course

The rumble strips will be the same as the front chicane. The one to the driver’s right on entry is approximately 36 feet long, and the other is approximately 30 feet long.

Chicane Daytona 2

Such as several drivers broached the idea to NASCAR leadership, with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe among the group contributing specific ideas. Among the ideas was the addition of a temporary Musco lighting tower to help with visibility, which NASCAR added in advance of this weekend.

“It looked like a good fix to me in short order,” said Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Chase Elliott. “Should be good. I don’t really have any issues with guys straightening that bus stop. That’s their job. That’s what they’re supposed to do. Just the dirt was a problem.”

Elliott will attempt to win his fifth straight NASCAR Cup Series road-course race in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He will start on the pole with Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell next to him on the front row.

Elliott won last year’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race on the course layout, and he nearly won the Busch Clash event, too. An aggressive move for the win resulted in both Elliott and race leader Ryan Blaney spinning out of contention, allowing Busch to drive by for the win.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

It’s fair to be both optimistic and realistic.

Corey LaJoie is well aware of his circumstances with Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series. It’s not the richest team in the NASCAR Cup Series garage, but it can be competitive. The No. 7 Chevrolet finished ninth in the season-opening Daytona 500 last Sunday at Daytona International Speedway — one of the 22 cars still running at the end of the 40-car race.

“I get Daytona is Daytona,” LaJoie said Thursday on a Zoom teleconference. “With certain circumstances, you can pop off a fast lap like we did there. But you don’t luck into two top-10 finishes in the 500 just because you’re out there riding around.”

DAYTONA ROAD COURSE: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX

LaJoie placed eighth in the crown-jewel event last season. He also has a sixth-place finish at Daytona in the 2019 summer race. Daytona is home to three of his four career top 10s. The fourth came at its sister track, Talladega Superspeedway — seventh, also in 2019.

Superspeedways do tend to open the door for non-frontrunners to make their move, as the racing is more unpredictable and the playing field is rather even. BetMGM had last weekend’s winner, Michael McDowell, at 66-1 odds entering 2021’s first event. The victory marked McDowell’s first in 14 years and 358 starts.

Nothing is really impossible. The right car at the right track can make for a happy surprise. At the same time, being successful among those in the same financial ballpark alone is an internal victory. And LaJoie is in a new ride this year, so he’s having to learn where he stacks up against his competition now compared to previous seasons.

“I’m ready to get to Phoenix and Vegas — some intermediates — to just see where we stack up speed wise and figure out those group of four, five cars we can race consistently and how to beat them,” LaJoie said. “I’m looking at cars like even RCR and JTG, I feel like we can compete against those guys each and every week. Wherever that stacks up in points — should be somewhere between 19th and 22nd — I feel like that’s where we should be running and getting better.”

DAYTONA ROAD COURSE: Betting odds | Paint schemes | TV schedule

He’ll have to wait two weeks for the series’ first time on an intermediate track. The 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway is slated for Feb. 28.

First, the No. 7 team will have to take on the Daytona Road Course, a 14-turn, 3.61-mile layout that includes portions of the World Center of Racing’s oval and infield. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 is Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“I forget where it was, whether it was the first media Zoom here before the 500, when people asked if they can take Spire seriously, I was like, ‘Check back here in six months and we’ll see if they’re taking us seriously,’” LaJoie said. “I would say people should start taking us serious.”

Posted on by Terrin Waack

The spotlight is on Chase Elliott this weekend, and understandably so.

As the NASCAR Cup Series takes on Daytona International Speedway’s road course, the reigning champion rides a four-race win streak on the track type, which is good for the second longest streak all time and includes Daytona’s 14-turn, 3.61-mile debut in 2020. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver also finished second last week in the exhibition Busch Clash event on the oval-road layout, after both taking and losing the lead on the last lap. Makes sense why Elliott is Sunday’s favorite, according to BetMGM, by 2-1 odds.

RELATED: Chase Elliott on pole for road race | Daytona Road Course weekend schedule 

Dim that light, though. Shine it on someone else for a moment.

Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 title holder, boasts a second-best 4-1 odds. He’s tied for second-most road wins among active drivers with four; Elliott has just one more. Truex has consistently been in the contention to win at road courses over the past decade, too.

En route to his championship, Truex split the road-course slate. He led a race-high 25 laps at Sonoma Raceway, only to lose his engine and finish 37th. He later won at Watkins Glen International, leading a race-high 24 laps.

Truex rebounded at Sonoma in 2018 to win by more than 10 seconds and lead a whopping 62 of the 110 circuits. At Watkins Glen, he was on his way to cross the finish line first but ran out of the gas and sputtered across in second. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval was also introduced this season as a third road-course show, and while battling for the lead in the final corner, Truex was spun by Jimmie Johnson and ultimately placed 14th.

In 2019, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota repeated at Sonoma after leading a race-high 59 of 90 laps. Truex once again was runner-up at Watkins Glen. And at the Roval, he navigated his way up to seventh after an engine change and two in-race penalties.

DAYTONA ROAD COURSE: Paint schemes | Betting odds

And then there’s last season. Sonoma and Watkins Glen were taken off the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Roval remained, and the Daytona Road Course was added. Truex finished seventh and third, respectively, after overcoming speeding penalties in both events.

That’s three wins out of 10 opportunities. Truex could have won each race, but saying could have is different than promoting should have. The reasons he didn’t are valid – and a part of racing.

Elliott won five of the seven Truex did not. Kevin Harvick (2017 Sonoma) and Ryan Blaney (2018 Roval) round out the 10 total otherwise.

The wins may be skewed toward Elliott, but Truex and Elliott match in top fives (six) and 10s (eight).

So, as the hype points toward Elliott, eyes can drift toward Truex with the expectation they may be side-by-side at the finish.

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C., (February 18, 2021) – Roush Fenway Racing today announced that the team has become the first carbon neutral NASCAR race team, powered by its official sponsor Castrol. Throughout the 2021 NASCAR season, Castrol will power the Roush Fenway team by supporting Roush Fenway’s carbon reduction and offset programs across their operations both on and off the track.

“As an organization, Roush Fenway has always been environmentally conscious,” said Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark. “Our hope with this program is to demonstrate that every business, small or large, and regardless of industry, can contribute to address global climate challenges. We hope to set an example and highlight that small steps by many can make a real difference.”

Roush Fenway has achieved carbon neutrality for the entire organization including operations, the two race teams and race cars for the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020, according to the PAS 2060 standard as verified by ERM CVS (independent 3rd party).

The partnership between Roush Fenway and Castrol is designed to help the team better manage its greenhouse gas emissions by tracking, quantifying, and reducing those emissions, and offsetting the balance with high-quality carbon offsets.

“At Castrol, we believe that small steps together can make a difference,” said Castrol’s Vice President of Marketing Rayne Pacek. “We want to play our part and teaming up with Roush Fenway to achieve their carbon neutral ambitions is a notable milestone in the sport and another step in supporting our partners in their efforts to drive change.”

In addition to working with Roush Fenway, Castrol plans to drive change by expanding its carbon neutral product range, reducing the carbon used in its production, and offering a new and expanded range of services – all to give consumers and customers more lower carbon choices.

“It’s an honor to pave the way in the sport and bring awareness to the importance of reducing your carbon footprint,” said Roush Fenway Driver Ryan Newman. “Every business can make choices to help promote a more sustainable future and this program makes me proud to be part of a team that takes the initiative to drive change.”

As part of the program, Newman’s traditionally green and red Castrol No 6. Ford Mustang will don an all-white paint scheme featuring a grey Castrol badge and muted logos from partners like Ford Motor Company, Kohler Generators, Oscar Mayer, Coca-Cola, Guaranteed Rate, MacTools, and Wyndham Rewards to show their support of the initiative. This paint scheme will be used at the Daytona Road Course on Sunday, February 21, 2021.

The initiative is part of Castrol’s ongoing relationship with Roush Fenway and is another step towards supporting its partners in achieving their lower carbon ambitions.  Consumers interested in learning more about Roush Fenway carbon neutral initiative powered by Castrol can visit Castrol.com/DrivingForChange. Visitors can also enter for a chance to win Ryan Newman race-used gear following the Daytona Road Race on February 21, 2021.

Posted on by Jason Christley

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – The 2021 BMR Drivers Academy – a NASCAR development program – will feature 14 full-time drivers competing in 16 two-day race events on the West Coast, culminating in opportunities in the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The program opens on March 26-27 at All American Speedway in Roseville, for its 40-race campaign.

NASCAR has joined the Academy as it develops drivers at five NASCAR National and Weekly Series tracks in California. Drivers will compete in full-sized stock cars utilizing a 625-horsepower NASCAR Yates Spec Engine and the same chassis components as ARCA and the NASCAR Truck Series. Races will be streamed live to a worldwide audience via SPEED SPORT TV.

“NASCAR and the ARCA Menards Series are fully committed to strengthening stock car racing on the West Coast. We believe the BMR Drivers Academy will amplify our West Coast efforts and develop future NASCAR and ARCA Menards Series drivers through a competitive environment that will sharpen their skills with real-world racing experience,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President & Chief Racing Development Officer.

Drivers that win race events in the Drivers Academy during the season will receive one entry per win, towards a drawing for an opportunity with BMR/MHR in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Phoenix in November. McAnally-Hilgemann Racing fields the #19 Toyota Tundra for Derek Kraus, with a career best finish of second at Darlington in 2020.

After races 14, 24, and 32, the points leader will be awarded an opportunity in a Bill McAnally Racing Toyota for a 2021 ARCA event. Bill McAnally Racing is based in Roseville, Calif. and has won a record 10 NASCAR and ARCA regional championships and more than 100 victories. In 2020, BMR won the ARCA Menards Series West championship with 15-year-old Jesse Love, the youngest champion in series history.

Drivers who have raced at BMR include Cole Custer, Chase Briscoe, Brendan Gaughan, Todd Gilliland, Hailie Deegan, Derek Kraus and Peyton Sellers.

Oval tracks in the 2021 BMR Drivers Academy include All American Speedway, Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale and Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield. Road courses will feature Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma and Thunderhill Raceway near Willows.

In addition to driver support on track, the BMR Drivers Academy program will also provide training in media relations, sponsorship relations, social media, fitness, leadership development, and diet.

Primary car inventory including hood, quarter panels, color scheme, number, and font can be utilized by academy participants for their supporters and sponsors, after approval by the Academy.

The program is being made available to 14 drivers, along with two additional cars being made available for one-off or part-time entries. Program costs and additional details are available at www.BMRDriversAcademy.com  For more information about Bill McAnally Racing, visit www.BMRNAPARacing.com

Posted on by Staff Report

Alvin Kamara, NFL All-Pro running back for the New Orleans Saints, has partnered with JD Motorsports with Gary Keller to sponsor the No. 6 NASCAR Xfinity Series Chevrolet driven by Ryan Vargas, the team announced Wednesday.

The Big Squeezy, Kamara’s chain of juice bars in Louisiana, will be the primary sponsor for the car in Saturday’s Super Start Batteries 188 at Daytona Presented by O’Reilly (5 p.m. ET, FS1) at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

RELATED: Daytona Road Course schedule

“When this opportunity presented itself, I knew I couldn’t let it slip by,” Kamara said in a team release. “I did a bit of research on Ryan as an individual and JD Motorsports and was impressed with what I read. I’m excited to play a small role in what they already have going on.”

Kamara and Vargas came together on social media when the driver tried to drum up potential sponsorship there. Kamara, who became a NASCAR fan last season, has attended multiple races, but this will be his first time as a sponsor.

“Having the opportunity to work with Alvin Kamara and The Big Squeezy is such a huge honor,” said Vargas, a product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program who has 13 career starts in the Xfinity Series. “As one of the best running backs in the game, I know Alvin puts 110% effort into everything he does and that can easily be said for myself and our No. 6 JD Motorsports team.”

Kamara serves as co-owner of The Big Squeezy chain, which has nine locations throughout Louisiana. Find out more at www.bigsqueezyexpress.com.

2021feb17 Alvin Kamara Scheme

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott has won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona International Speedway’s Road Course (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will start from the pole position with Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford sharing the front row in the 40-car field.

Additionally, Brett Moffitt won the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race and Ben Rhodes will start up front for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

RELATED: Daytona Road Course schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings

As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.

NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs:

  • 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
  • 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
  • 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
  • 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race

See the full lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series race below.

Start pos.
 Driver Car # Team
1 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
2 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
3 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
4 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
5 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
6 Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
7 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
8 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Ross Chastain 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
11 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
12 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
13 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
14 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
15 Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
17 Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
18 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
19 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
20 Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
21 Cody Ware 51 Petty Ware Racing
22 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
23 Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware Racing
24 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
25 Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing
26 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
27 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
28 Scott Heckert 78 Live Fast Motorsports
29 Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
30 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
31 Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row Motorsports
32 Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
33 Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
34 AJ Allmendinger 16 Kaulig Racing
35 Daniel Suarez 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
36 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
37 Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
38 Ty Dillon 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing
39 James Davison 15 Rick Ware Racing
40 Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management

Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500; the next race with time trials scheduled is the March 28 event at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track.

Posted on by Staff Report

Competition officials penalized two NASCAR Cup Series teams Tuesday for lug-nut infractions that occurred after Daytona 500 preliminary events last week at Daytona International Speedway.

RELATED: Cup Series standings

The No. 2 Team Penske Ford (driver Brad Keselowski) and the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota (Bubba Wallace) were each found with one lug nut not safely secured in post-race checks. The Penske team’s violation of the NASCAR Rule Book’s Section 10.9.10.4 (Tires and wheels) was discovered after the Busch Clash exhibition on Feb. 9; the 23XI infraction occurred after the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying race last Thursday.

As a result, officials assessed a $10,000 fine each to crew chiefs Jeremy Bullins (No. 2 Ford) and Michael Wheeler (No. 23 Toyota).

NASCAR officials also announced a behavioral penalty for Michael Leoncini, who is listed on the Daytona event rosters as a hauler driver for GMS Racing’s No. 26 Chevrolet team in the Camping World Truck Series. Leoncini, 61, has been suspended indefinitely under Section 12.8.1.e of the NASCAR Rule Book, which details member actions such as discrimination or criminal charges/convictions that could result in suspension.