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  • Four Takeaways From Lucas Oil 200 ARCA Menards At Daytona

    Four Takeaways From Lucas Oil 200 ARCA Menards At Daytona

    The ARCA Menards Series was back in action this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway and it was a solid race for the most part. There were a lot of new faces in the ARCA field at Daytona trying to make their first start at the most historic place in racing.

    Some new, some old, but they all had the same mindset. Go out there and win, or in some cases, bring the car home in one piece and be satisfied with a top-five finish when others expected you not to finish there. Either way, the 2020 Lucas Oil 200 was a new era for the ARCA Menards Series officially falling under the NASCAR banner. Despite falling under the new banner, you didn’t really notice any major difference, unless you looked hard enough.

    With that out of the way, here are the four takeaways from the Lucas Oil 200 event.

    1. Venturini back in victory lane – Whenever it comes to an ARCA race, you can almost always expect a Venturini car winning the race, or coming up short. Many wondered if the organization could follow up their impressive 2019 season by winning half the races, the Owners Championship, and of course, the prize everyone is chasing, the ARCA Menards Series title. Well, those questions were answered on Saturday when returning driver Michael Self claimed his first-ever Daytona pole. Having a fast car, Self was hoping to do a repeat performance from two years ago in 2018 by winning that race. It was a wreck-fest of a race, but the Venturini driver avoided all of them and found himself in contention to win at the end. Self wound up leading 61 of the scheduled 80 laps en route to victory. Not a bad first step in 2020 in hopes of getting back to the championship after falling short last year.
    2. Wreck-Fest Extravaganza – When it comes to Daytona, you never know what to expect until the race begins. In some races, the race goes the complete distance without a yellow, while others can be a wreck-filled race. Saturday’s race was a wreck-fest with 33.8 % of the race running under yellow. The pace was slowed by six cautions for 27 laps. Just 17 out of the 33 cars were running at the finish. A wild way to open up the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season.
    3. Deegan shines in first outing at Daytona – It wasn’t easy for her, but NASCAR superstar Hailie Deegan had a decent performance at Daytona. The DGR-Crosley driver qualified seventh and finished second after all the chaos especially after being caught up in an incident of her own. Toward the end of the race on Lap 51, Deegan caught the No. 11 machine the wrong way off Turn 2 and sent Chuck Hiers into the wall. While most certainly Deegan did not mean to do so, the Fast Track Racing team might make it tough on her in the races to come whenever she tries to pass them.
    4. Sean Corr continues to impress – Sean Corr is a name many people might not hear all that much, but he is always there at the finish, at least in the Superspeedway races. In 2013, Corr notched his first top-five finish at Daytona by finishing fifth. He followed that up again a couple of years later at Talladega by finishing fifth again. The Goshen, New York native also did the same in last year’s Daytona race. Coming into 2020, Corr was hoping to do the same. The No. 8 NESCO Chevrolet qualified 20th and ran solidly throughout the event. When it came down to it, Corr found himself again in the same position and was able to capitalize. In fact, he scored his best career finish to date in the ARCA Menards Series by finishing fourth.
  • Michael Self claims pole for ARCA season opener at Daytona

    Michael Self claims pole for ARCA season opener at Daytona

    Michael Self, with a lap time of 49.43, qualified on the pole for today’s ARCA Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona pole is the first time that Self qualified first at Daytona and the first time since the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports car qualified on the front row since 2018 when Natalie Decker accomplished that feat.

    “Probably up until last year, qualifying was a bit of a sour point for me because I always have such bad qualifying results,” Self said. “But we kind of squashed that last year […] to get it here at Daytona International Speedway, it’s really special for Sinclair Oil, Venturini Motorsports and Toyota.”

    Self, however, is no stranger to qualifying on the pole at superspeedways. In fact, his first career pole came at Talladega in 2018, where the Utah native qualified first and finished third after leading 21 laps. Despite the small success at superspeedways, Self has yet to win a race at Daytona or Talladega, but today may be the day he crosses that off the list.

    Andy Seuss, Dave Mader III, Jason White, Drew Dollar, Riley Herbst, Hailie Deegan, Connor Hall, David Gravel and Dominique Van Wieringen completed the top-10 starters at Daytona.

    The Lucas Oil 200 goes green today at 4:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    Official Starting Line Up

    1. Michael Self
    2. Andy Seuss
    3. Dave Mader III
    4. Jason White
    5. Drew Dollar
    6. Riley Herbst
    7. Hailie Deegan
    8. Connor Hall
    9. David Gravel
    10. Dominique Van Wieringen
    11. Tanner Gray
    12. Jacob Heafner
    13. Ryan Repko
    14. Gus Dean
    15. Jason Kitzmiller
    16. J.J. Pack
    17. Chuck Hiers
    18. Bret Holmes
    19. Natalie Decker
    20. Sean Corr
    21. Willie Mullins
    22. Thomas Praytor
    23. Scott Melton
    24. John Ferrier
    25. Benny Chastain
    26. Eric Caudell
    27. Tim Richmond
    28. Scott Reeves
    29. Brad Smith
    30. Ryan Huff
    31. Chuck Buchanan JR
    32. Con Nicolopoulos
    33. Thad Moffitt

  • Deegan and Hall set pace at Daytona in ARCA practice

    Deegan and Hall set pace at Daytona in ARCA practice

    After a long off-season, the ARCA Menards Series drivers were back on track today at Daytona International Speedway. There were two practice sessions that took place in the afternoon with most of the field taking laps.

    In the first practice, it was NASCAR Superstar Hailie Deegan placing fastest in the No. 4 DGR-Crosley Ford with a lap time of 49.027 seconds at a speed of 183.572 mph. In the final practice session, ARCA newcomer, Connor Hall, set the pace for Chad Bryant Racing in the No. 22 with a time of 49.476 seconds at 181.906 mph.

    While this will be Deegan’s first full-time season in the ARCA Menards Series, it won’t be her first rodeo as she has six starts to her credit with a best finish of fifth at Indianapolis Raceway Park last season. Despite not having much superspeedway experience, she was still able to learn some things for tomorrow’s Lucas Oil 200.

    “That was the real drafting practice that I had with more than five cars,” she said. “I needed that, and I didn’t get a lot of that in the test. It was really good leading the pack too. Felt super stable, not darty at all.”

    One practice was good enough for the Temecula, California native as she did not compete in the final practice session.

    Well over 32 cars took to the track in the first practice session with Deegan being the fastest followed by Drew Dollar in the Venturini Motorsports No. 15 Toyota, Tanner Gray in the No. 17 DGR-Crosley Ford, Riley Herbst in the No. 18 Toyota, Bret Holmes in the No. 23 Chevrolet, Connor Hall in the No. 22 Ford, Jacob Heafner in the No. 77 Ford, Gus Dean in the No. 32 Chevrolet, Michael Self in the No. 25 Toyota and Ryan Repko in the No. 20 Toyota rounding out the top-10.

    As for the final practice, it was a who’s who in the top-10. Hall was fastest with Dave Mader III in second, Dominique Van Wieringen in third, Willie Mullins in fourth, Sean Corr in fifth, Jason White in sixth, Thad Moffitt in seventh, Natalie Decker in eighth, Chuck Hiers in ninth, and Jacob Heafner completing the top-10 in the final practice session. Only 24 cars participated in the session. Michael Self, Drew Dollar, Ryan Repko and Riley Herbst did not take a lap in final practice.

    With both practice sessions done for the day, the ARCA Menards Series drivers will take to the track tomorrow with group qualifying scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage. That will set the field for the annual Lucas Oil 200 at 4:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

  • ARCA Menards Series Preview-Daytona

    ARCA Menards Series Preview-Daytona

    It’s hard to believe, but once again, the off-season is over and a new racing season is upon us. At least that is the case for the ARCA Menards Series. The last time ARCA was on-track for a race was the season finale at Kansas Speedway back in October where former series driver Christian Eckes won the title over Michael Self. Eckes has since moved up to the Truck Series to compete full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports while Self is back with Venturini Motorsports for another shot at the title.

    Before we get there though, there have been some changes to the ARCA Menards Series rules that we will discuss here momentarily. Quite possibly one of the more newsworthy announcements during the off-season came a couple of weeks ago when ARCA Menards Series officials made the announcement that the points standings will now be more aligned with the NASCAR standings. With that in mind, should a driver win a race, they will earn 43 points, while also earning three additional points for a race win.

    In addition to the points standings changes, if the driver wins the race and gets the three additional bonus points, the race winner can earn up to 49 points if the winner also earns the General Tire pole award.

    Also new to the ARCA Menards Series is the Sioux Chief Showdown. With NASCAR taking over ARCA this year, there will be a new Sioux Chief Showdown Series that features 10-races starting at Phoenix Raceway. In this challenge, teams from the ARCA Menards East and West Series are allowed to compete in the Showdown as long as their cars meet ARCA’s requirements. The other races are Salem Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lucas Oil Raceway, Elko Speedway, Iowa Speedway, WWT Raceway at Gateway, Watkins Glen International, Bristol Motor Speedway, and the Showdown finale at Memphis International Raceway.

    With that being said, let’s take a look at the ARCA Menards entry list as there are a crop load of new drivers set to qualify for Saturday’s race at Daytona. There are 33 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend’s Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway. Originally, the field was 34, but the No. 2 owned by Chad Bryant has withdrawn from the event.

    Almost expected every year, Venturini Motorsports brings on new drivers to take on the 20-race schedule. New to the stable this year is Drew Dollar piloting the No. 15, Ryan Repko in the No. 20, while Michael Self returns in his famed No. 25 Sinclair Toyota.

    Drew Dollar may be a new name race fans have not heard of before, however, Dollar made two ARCA starts last year at Gateway and Kansas. Dollar’s best finish out of those two races was sixth in his first outing at Gateway. This year, the Atlanta, Georgia native is scheduled to compete full-time in the No. 15 Toyota. While there might be some high expectations for Dollar, he is just happy to be here to race in the ARCA Menards Series.

    “It’s really exciting to be heading back down to Daytona this weekend to compete in my first ARCA race there,” Dollar said. “I have a lot of confidence built up that our No. 15 Lynx Capital Toyota Camry team will have a solid car and I am looking forward to working with my teammates throughout the race.”

    Also new to the Venturini stable is Ryan Repko piloting the No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry. Repko is not new to the ARCA Series. Like, Dollar, the Denver, NC native has made two starts over the last two years for the former Mason Mitchell Motorsports team. Repko made his series debut at Madison where he finished eighth. Continuing flying under the radar, Repko made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts last year for Johnny Davis Motorsports at both Iowa races and Richmond. His best finish was 19th at Richmond.

    In 2020, Repko will be paired with a great team that won almost half the races last year. The No. 20 car also has some history from the 2019 season, where it locked up the Owners Championship.

    “All of the Venturini (Motorsports) guys have put a lot of effort into bringing out every ounce of speed these Toyota Camry’s have to offer,” Repko said. “I am pleased with where we ended the test and know the crew hasn’t stopped working on our cars since. It’s really exciting to be heading back to Daytona to compete in my first race there and I am looking forward to working with Billy (Venturini) and my teammates to bring home a solid finish for the VMS team.”

    And finally, there were some questions marks as to whether or not if the championship runner up Michael Self was even going to compete this year in the ARCA Menards Series. However, a deal was made with the team a couple of weeks ago where Self will return to the No. 25 Toyota Camary for another full-time season.

    “Last time Kevin (Reed) and I worked together at Daytona, we brought home the trophy, using the same car we’re bringing this year,” Self said. “While it’d be amazing to do that again, we need to stay clean until the end to have another shot at victory lane. We’ll be paying a lot of attention to who we’re racing around and come up with a strategy as we go and hopefully, we will have a solid day for the No. 25 Sinclair Oil Toyota Camry.”

    All three Venturini drivers competed at the ARCA Menards Series test session last month.

    Continuing the topic of new drivers, that’s what Chad Bryant Racing has this year for his team, at least for the Daytona race. Two new drivers are scheduled to compete in the season opener. Connor Hall will drive the No. 22 while Jacob Heafner is to drive the No. 77. Hall isn’t new to the ARCA Series as he had two starts last year for this team at Daytona and Michigan. In last year’s race at Daytona, Hall finished 11th on the lead lap. Hall is looking to do the same again this year, but with a higher finish.

    “I’m really looking forward to getting to Daytona this weekend,” said Hall who has two ARCA Menards Series starts to his credit. “I had to learn a lot in 80 laps last year – but going back to the test in January and knowing what I had to work on and improve, I was really happy with our team walking out of the test. Saturday’s race though isn’t going to be easy. There’s a lot of people on different agendas and some who have little to no experience at Daytona – so being patient and staying out of trouble are going to be super important to make it to the finish.”

    While Hall returns to Daytona with one start, Daytona will be an all-new experience for Jacob Heafner. The Dallas, North Carolina native will make his ARCA debut this Saturday piloting the famed No. 77. Originally, Joe Graf Jr. drove the Ford Fusion last year.

    Despite being new to the ARCA Menards Series, Heafner is thankful to compete this season.

    “I can’t begin to say how huge of an opportunity this is for me and my career,” said Heafner. “I’m paired with a lot of smart people who bring fast and winning race cars to the track and I’m the lucky guy that gets to sit behind the wheel. I’m not sure what all to expect for my ARCA Menards Series debut, but I definitely want to earn the respect of my competitors and be around for the finish.”

    While not new to the racing world, Mark Rette Racing will pilot a new driver for his race team at Daytona this weekend. Candian Dominique Van Wieringen is scheduled to compete in the No. 30 Ford. Van Wieringen was at Daytona last month for the test and was fastest for one of the days. The Canadian is not scheduled for the whole season but has several races on her schedule. Van Wieringen will also race at Talladega Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Pocono Raceway, and Kansas Speedway in October.

    Saturday’s race will mark the first for Van Wieringen in the ARCA Menards Series.

    “I’m really excited about getting this opportunity to compete at Daytona for Rette Jones Racing,” said Dominique Van Wieringen, a veteran of ARCA East competition. “As we proved last month, we have a really fast race car and I can’t wait to get on the track and showcase that speed once again and have the opportunity to race for a win in my ARCA debut. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

    Fast Track Racing has new drivers as well. One of the new members to the Andy Hillenburg team is Ryan Huff. Huff will be a rookie this year but will have teammates Chuck Hiers, Jason White and John Ferrier to lean on.

    “There are no words to describe what this opportunity means to me,” said Huff who participated in the series’ preseason test at Daytona last month. “I’m working hard to build a brand and work my way up the ladder. This is Daytona and it’s a huge stage filled with opportunity.”

    Huff knows ARCA will be a new challenge for him, but has had some experience at Daytona by participating in the test session last month.

    “The test is awfully busy because there’s a lot of drivers, but this weekend there will be a lot of attention on our No. 10 Fast Track Racing Toyota and I plan to take full advantage of that. We plan to take advantage of practice on Friday to get our car in a good place handling wise to set ourselves up for group qualifying on Saturday afternoon.”

    CR7 Motorsports has Jason Kitzmiller to drive the No. 97 owned by Codie Rohrbaugh. Kitzmiller will have sponsorship with All Construction. Like others, Kitzmiller participated in the test session in January, but is excited for Saturday’s season opener.

    “Can’t believe Saturday’s race is almost here,” said Kitzmiller, a veteran of Late Model dirt and Super Cup Stock Car Series competition. Without a doubt, this will be the biggest race of my career thus far and I’ve got a ton of knowledge and support behind me, I just hope to mind my manners and keep our No. 97 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet out of trouble.”

    “I learned a lot at the test and I’m hoping that track time will pay dividends this weekend,” said Kitzmiller who hopes to run a limited ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2020. “Doug, Codie and all the guys on this CR7 Motorsports team were extremely patient with me as I got up to speed.

    “We worked on qualifying stuff, pit road stuff and worked the draft a bunch. I understand that the intensity will ramp up in practice on Friday and then qualifying and the race on Saturday, but we should be ready.”

    Dean Racing is back in the ARCA Menards Series despite some changes. Gus Dean will drive the usual No. 32 Chevrolet. Consider that Dean will be one of the few veterans competing in the field by having 51 starts over the past four years. However, his previous four races dating back to 2016 have not fared well for him. In pretty much all those races, Dean crashed out on either the first lap of the race or late in the race taking him out of a good finish.

    Even though the results might not be there at Daytona for Dean, he is still glad to be back in the ARCA Menards Series.

    “I’m excited to get back in an ARCA car with my guys at Win-Tron Racing, have some fun Super Late Model Racing and having the opportunity to come back and get back in a truck on February 14. A lot of people continue to believe in me and I’m thankful for everyone’s support.

    “Kevin (Cynwisnki, team owner) and Jamie (Jones, crew chief) have built me a really fast Chevrolet for the ARCA Menards Series race. I keep thinking we can’t go back to the track and have a better superspeedway piece than we did the last time, but this car that we had at the test is really good. It drafted very well, and we had a lot of speed. I’ve always run near the front at Daytona but always caught up in something. This year, I want to see that checkered flag and hopefully, I can bring Win-Tron Racing back to Victory Lane at a superspeedway.”

    Missing out on Daytona last year, but hoping to be on the racetrack this year is Thomas Praytor in his own No. 9 Chevrolet. Praytor was only able to make one superspeedway start last year at Talladega finishing 20th due to a transmission problem. This year, the Mobile, Alabama native hopes to change that luck around and perhaps get an upset win.

    “It hurt just a little not to be in Daytona last year but I wasn’t going to miss Hugh being born for anything. Hugh got here in time for us to go to Talladega and he made his first race at Talladega, I’m looking forward to him making his first trip to Daytona this year.”

    Someone who has come to be known as a superspeedway favorite, Willie Mullins, is on the entry list in his own No. 3. Mullins is known for finishing a runner up second place at Daytona a couple of years ago in 2018. Last year’s race didn’t go well for Mullins, but he hopes to turn that around this year.

    “I’m excited to get back for the race,” he said. “Last year was really a heartbreaker for me. Not only for me but for Michael (Self) as well. This year my focus is really to be a bit more conservative in the car. You can’t win the race if you aren’t there at the end. And we want to be there at the end.”

    And finally, making headlines in the racing world this off-season, popular racecar driver Hailie Deegan made the news that she will be racing full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for DGR-Crosley in the No. 4 Ford Performance Ford. Deegan will be making her first start at Daytona this year.

    “It’s a work in progress since this is only my third year doing this,” Deegan said. “I try to take what I learn from every situation and try to get better next time. I want to run all the laps and be there at the end to see what we can get. To win at Daytona would be huge. If there is any race I want to win this year, it’s Daytona.”

    Wrapping up the female drivers for this weekend at Daytona is Natalie Decker. Announced a few weeks ago, Decker will drive for Ken Schrader in the No. 52 Ford with support from FURY Race Cars and crew chief Tony Eury Jr.

    “I’m really looking forward to going to Daytona with Natalie and working with Ken Schrader Racing. I’ve always liked Daytona and I’ve had a lot of success there in the past,” says Eury Jr. “I’ve built my career on mentoring young and up-and-coming drivers, trying to teach them the X’s and O’s of different levels of this sport, and that’s what we do as a company at FURY. Natalie has a lot of passion for racing and our goal is to help her improve so that she can meet the goals she has set for her career.”

    If it all goes according to plan, Saturday could be a historic day at Daytona International Speedway, where we could see three female drivers finish in the top three for the first time ever.

    While the drivers mentioned above will be chasing that elusive Daytona trophy, there are other drivers on the entry list that hope to do the same.

    Con Nicolopoulos will be in the No. 0 Wayne Peterson Chevy, John Ferrier in the No. 1 for Andy Hillenburg, Andy Seuss in the No. 02 for Chris Our, Tim Richmond in the No. 06 for Wayne Peterson, Eric Caudell in the No. 7, Sean Corr in the No. 8, Benny Chastain in the No. 09, Chuck Hiers and Jason White in the No. 11 and No. 12 for Andy Hillenburg. Also entered are Tanner Gray in the No. 17, Riley Herbst in the No. 18, World of Outlaw star David Gravel in the No. 28, Thad Moffitt in the No. 46, Brad Smith in the No. 48, J.J. Pack in the No. 63, Dave Mader III in the No. 63, Scott Melton in the No. 69, Chuck Buchanan Jr. in the No. 87 and Scott Reeves in the No. 88.

    Daytona International Speedway has seen numerous drivers get to victory lane over the years. Mickey Gibbs, Grant Adcox, Glenn Sears, Ben Hess, Jimmy Horton, Jeff Purvis, Mike Wallace, Andy Hillenburg, Kenny Irwin Jr., Bobby Gerhart, Ryan Newman, Chase Montgomery, Kyle Busch, Michael Annett, James Buescher, John Wes Townley, Grant Enfinger, Austin Theriault, Michael Self, and Harrison Burton have all won here, just to name a few.

    Bobby Gerhart has the most wins with eight in the series.

    Last year’s race winner, Burton, started fifth and led 48 of the scheduled 80 laps with just five cautions slowing the pace.

    The ARCA Menards Series drivers will get on-track on Friday afternoon with two practice sessions. The first taking place from 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET and the final practice session from 3-4 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage, but a live leaderboard can be seen at arcaracing.com.

    Saturday is race day and qualifying day for the drivers. The day starts out with group qualifying at 12:30 p.m. ET with no live TV coverage.

    Then, Fox Sports 1 will go live at 4:30 p.m. ET for the annual Lucas Oil 200 with the 80 laps from Daytona International Speedway.






  • NASCAR Announces Changes to NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Process

    NASCAR Announces Changes to NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Process

  • Greenfield to run eight Truck Series races, NASCAR Crew Chief legend Jeff Hammond to serve as Crew Chief

    Greenfield to run eight Truck Series races, NASCAR Crew Chief legend Jeff Hammond to serve as Crew Chief

    Announced tonight by Clay Greenfield Motorsports, Clay Greenfield will once again compete in his own No. 68 Chevrolet that will be sponsored by Rackley Roofing for eight races this season. Alongside Greenfield will be legendary NASCAR Crew Chief Jeff Hammond partnering as crew chief for Greenfield. The partnership between the two will begin at Daytona next month in the season opener.

    Team owner and driver Greenfield is excited to have Hammond serving as crew chief.

    “We are thrilled to have a legendary crew chief like Jeff to join our team and help take us to the next level,” Greenfield said. “With the addition of Jeff and with equipment upgrades Rackley Roofing has allowed us to make, we are poised to have the most successful season in CGM’s history.”

    Greenfield has competed in 46 Truck Series starts in a span of 10-years dating back to 2010 in his first Truck start that came at Martinsville. While he has never competed a full-season, the effort has always been there to perform to the best of their abilities. In doing so, Greenfield has two top-10s in his career, coming at Daytona in 2012 where he finished 10th and scoring his best finish of eighth just a couple of years ago at Talladega Superspeedway.

    As an owner, Greenfield notched a 12th place finish last season at Daytona.

    While Greenfield is excited about the season starting up again, Jeff Hammond is also eager to get back on the pit box as a crew chief.

    “It’s like coming full circle to be able to return to the top of the box for such a first-class team and a hungry driver like Clay Greenfield,” Hammond said. “I believe this Rackley Roofing No. 68 is going to turn some heads and prove that we’re a team to respect!”

    Hammond has an impressive career resume with 518 Cup Series races that includes 43 wins, 143 top fives, 216 top-10 finishes and 27 poles. He won the Cup Series championship with Hall of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip in 1982 and 1985.

    CEO of Rackley Roofing also has this to say about the partnership with Clay Greenfield and Jeff Hammond.

    “With the arrival of Jeff Hammond, we just moved into a 7,000 square foot facility in Murfreesboro, TN,” Curtis Sutton said. “We will continue to strive for constant improvement, invest in new trucks, new equipment, and new technology and as we position ourselves to be a contender in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoor Truck Series for years to come.”

  • Episode 2: Rolex 24 Results, NGOTS Playoff expansion, GM Tech Center to open in Charlotte

    Episode 2: Rolex 24 Results, NGOTS Playoff expansion, GM Tech Center to open in Charlotte

    SpeedwayMedia.com’s Senior Writer Briar Starr joins the show to talk the Rolex 24 results, NGOTS Playoff expansion, and the new GM Tech Center in Charlotte

  • LFR welcomes Bell, prepares for second year with TRD

    LFR welcomes Bell, prepares for second year with TRD

    From their first steps as a part-time team in 2011 to finishing in the top-25 in points and three top-fives in 2019, Leavine Family Racing (LFR) is looking to capitalize in 2020 as the young team continues their partnership with Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and brings in an Xfinity Series great to the stable.

    In 2019, the No. 95 car led nearly a fourth of the Great American Race and produced an eighth-place finish during the July Coke Zero Sugar 400. And though it was rained out, Leavine states that Procore Toyota was one of the better cars left.

    “I wanted to finish the race; I was not satisfied with an eighth-place finish,” says team owner Bob Leavine.

    Looking to unload a strong car in Daytona for rookie Christopher Bell, who comes from Joe Gibbs Racing’s (JGR) Xfinity Series, Leavine calls the 25-year-old focused and very intense with a sense of urgency.

    “He’s adapted at every level he’s come up through. Sure, there will be adjustments,” said Leavine. “He drives his heart out. From my standpoint, what more can I ask for?”

    LFR announced in September 2019 that the Oklahoma-native prodigy would be behind the wheel of the No. 95 Toyota Camry in 2020. Bell, a 2017 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series champion, has 16 career wins in the Xfinity Series with seven Truck Series wins. Bell moves with experienced crew chief Jason Ratcliff atop the pit box. Ratcliff has a combined total of eight years working on Sunday with multiple drivers including Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano.

    Upon in-house conversation regarding maintaining continuity with Bell, Leavine says, it was decided to move Mike Wheeler as crew chief to the position of competition director, allowing Ratcliff to step up to the Cup Series once more with Bell.

    “There’s always a comfort level when a driver is able to maintain his crew chief; it’s just familiarity,” Leavine said. “It’s difficult switching to somebody you don’t know. Wheels is a great engineer and we wanted to have additional engineering support, so we talked to Jason about it, how he felt about it. Wheels and Jason did a lot of visiting and in fact, the TRD people thought “man if you can pull that off, that’s kind of a dream team.’”

    While starting with LFR during the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series will be a first for Bell, the season will mark LFR’s second season with TRD, who provides enginers and technology, data and technical assistance to the team.

    “We were just one of a dozen or 15 cars when we were with Ford and with Chevrolet, and we saw absolutely no growth there because the big Chevy teams and the big Ford teams get all the support and then it’s a trickle-down effect to those teams that are in alliances,” Leavine added, calling their TRD support a relationship.

    In a 2019 NASCAR press release when Bell’s upcoming tenure with LFR was announced, TRD president David Wilson made his support for both Bell and LFR clean.

    “TRD and Toyota have worked with Bell since his early dirt track career and we’ve been proud to see him work his way to NASCAR’s highest level,” Wilson stated. “Christopher is a special talent and we’re happy to have him winning races and championships in a Toyota. We look forward to seeing his continued growth and success at LFR in 2020. We’re also pleased with how the relationship between JGR and LFR has progressed during their first season working together. We’re confident this enhanced alliance for 2020 will continue to make them a threat for race wins week in and week out.”

    2020 marks LFR’s fifth full-time season and hopes to secure their first win with Bell after coming close following a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2019 with Matt DiBenedetto. Bell will make his debut in the NASCAR Cup Series with the orange and black Procore colors during the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. Tune in to FOX at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 16, to catch the action.

  • Episode 1: Chili Bowl Results, Graf to XFINITY Series, Kaulig Racing announces CC lineup

    Episode 1: Chili Bowl Results, Graf to XFINITY Series, Kaulig Racing announces CC lineup

    Welcome to the pilot episode! We talk Chili Bowl results, while announcing Joe Graf Jr.’s move to the XFINITY Series and the 2020 Crew Chief lineup for Kaulig Racing. Also announced is a special throwback scheme for an IMSA Ford team and James Hinchcliffe may do some racing in 2020.

  • GM Set to Open a New Technical Center in Charlotte

    GM Set to Open a New Technical Center in Charlotte

    The Charlotte Tech Center will initially focus on GM performance and racing, with ability to expand to other areas of business

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – General Motors will open a new technical center focused on performance and racing in the Charlotte region, a major racing hub in the United States. The facility will expand GM’s performance and racing capabilities, with a focus on transferring knowledge and resources from the racing programs to core vehicle engineering. The goal for the Charlotte Technical Center is to eventually house future technology and engineering development capabilities.

    The 75,000-square-foot facility will be located in Concord, North Carolina, off of Interstate-85 and less than 10 miles from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The new technical center will provide an opportunity to recruit potential GM employees from the growing pool of technical talent in the Charlotte area. It is expected to open by mid-2020.

    “We’re thrilled to expand GM’s U.S. footprint by establishing a greater presence in Charlotte, a community that has become a racing and engineering mecca,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports. “The new facility will be close to a number of key Chevrolet and Cadillac racing partners, teams and suppliers. This will allow for improved collaboration as well as access to some of the industry’s best talent.”

    The new technical center provides GM the opportunity to expand and enhance its support for Chevrolet NASCAR race teams as well as various other GM racing teams. The facility will feature Driver-in-the-Loop simulators, vehicle simulation, aero development and other practices designed to advance racing and production capabilities.

    “Chevrolet and Cadillac Racing are two of the winningest brands in motorsports. This new facility will build upon their legacies and hopefully lead to even more success on the track,” said Campbell. “Racing helps us accelerate the development, performance and popularity of our cars and trucks across the world.”

    Development technologies often make their way from the racing world to production vehicles. Computational Fluid Dynamics, scale model testing and rolling wind-tunnel testing were all pioneered in racing and are now used extensively in production vehicle development.

    General Motors is a global company committed to delivering safer, better and more sustainable ways for people to get around. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety and security services, and Maven, its personal mobility brand, can be found at GM.com.